User blog:Underredded/Wizard
Sharp Elite and I were talking about the Wizard, and we were debating whether he was overrated and actually weak, and Sharp Elite had a point, Wizard isn't really as good right now as most people may think. Now this is why... Before everything, we of course must take a stats analysis Yes, I am comparing these stats with a card somewhat similar, Executioner. At tourney standards, Executioner has 1010 health, while Wizard has a mere 598 health. This makes a big difference, as Wizard would get countered by medium to high damage spells such as Poison and Lightning Also, let's just take a look at how Executioner has that bigger radius of damage, being able to clear swarms so much ore easier. At this point, you can see Wizard being, obviously, outclassed. This is why he wasn't used that much before being buffed recently. But this is where the line cuts. Wizard has the edge range wise, and has a higher DPS, and with it's hitspeed buffed even more... it's finally getting some love. There is now a good choice between these two competitors. What made things worse, was his radius increase, that made him pretty much stronger than Executioner statswise. But there's only so much stats can tell you. Which is why, let's look at the meta Well, since it's so hard to gather all the meta troops, and even harder to decide what meta is, but let's take a look at the main counters for Wizard Poison is one hell of a counter, but it's worth noting that the Wizard still is attacking while being Poisoned, and is not being slowed down (Poison nerf ily) so it's not a hard counter. Dark Prince, may seem like a great counter, cheap, deals a blow, has decent health. But no, even as he locks onto your Wizard, you can just divert his attention by Zapping him and then placing a minitank to distract. Even better, if they place him wrongly. You don't need to Zap him in that case. Not a hard counter at all. Same thing applies to Knight and Royal Ghost. Ice Golem, only when he is solo, and no one is going to spam him on the field solo. If you use him as something to sponge the Wizard's damage, the opponent can always kill your support killers with spells, just like how you kill his Wizard with spells. Hunter, it depends entirely on your placing, and he also can be zapped and can retarget. That leaves us with Rocket, Lightning and Valkyrie as the potential contendors to hard counter this card. Rocket is a hard counter, as it is for everything, and I love it for the reason of being able to do so. But it hasn't seen love bait aside, and surely you're kind of persuaded to not use Rocket either. Lightning? You can rod it, or bait it. There's no way people can have two medium heavy spells in their deck. But still, you'll have trouble with it. Then there comes the Valkyrie, which is a definite hard counter. Zap won't save you as even if she retargets she still has her 360 splash and that would continue to destroy against Wizard. She is meta currently, and with her, there doesn't seem like there's a way Wizard can fully thrive. Personal preferance I personally prefer Wizard, having given me probably my first insane tourney win and lots after that. Hog Freeze with a Wiznado touch (coming out soon) got me quite a few classic challenge runs (if I recall, I even got 12-0) and also helped me in triple elixir (The deck was 3.6 before I started modifying it) Another small analysis? It is shown that Bowler and other splash troops have had an increase usage and win rate (I don't really care for the usage rate, but the win rate does say something) so even if Wizard is better than Executioner, will it get power creeped by other splash units? Conclusion Hey, let's be honest here, Wizard may not be the best, but it is improving, slowly but surely. Surely the fact that's it's a rare, while most other strong splashers are epic rarity, should mean something in ladder. And his buff is also bringing him a lot more attention than last time. Still, his fragility remains his weakness, but that's what makes him balanced. Is he better than Executioner? By all means. But is he the best of all splashers? We will have to wait and see. Category:Blog posts